Improvement in art of curing hops, and furnaces used therefor



W. W; EDGARTON. Art. of Curing Hops and Furnaces used Therefor.

Patented Jan. 1,1878.

N. PETERS, PHDTO-UTHOGRAFNEH, WASNINGTON, I}. C

UNITE ims PATENT .O fi G-EL WILLIAM w. herm s, ornoucirvrnnn; mwaom;

IMPROVEMENT IN 'ART OF CURING HOPS, AND FURNACES USED THEREFOR.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 198,875, dated January1, 1878; application filed May 22, 1877.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM W. EDGAR- TON, of Bouckville, in the countyof Madison and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in the Art of Curing Hops, and in Furnaces used for thatpurpose,

, monly practiced; also to reduce the expense of drying by utilizing allthe heat generated in the furnace employed to' practice my improvedprocess. These objects are accomplished by curing the hops by means ofthe direct heat and the gases arising from an open coal fire. I havefound in practice that wellgrown and ripened hops can be effectuallycured in this way without any sulphurization, while less perfect hopswill require some little sulphurization in addition, not so much to curethem as to bleach them to the desired color.

The improvement in the open furnace used to practice my improvement inthe art consists in providing it below the grate with pipes extendingthrough the walls of the curingchamber, to conduct fresh air to thefire; also, in combining with the furnace a cone-shaped deflectorsuspended over the open top of the furnace, to prevent any hops orsiftings from falling into the fire, as well as, in a measure, toregulate the draft of the furnace, which can be effected by raising orlowering the de flector.

The annexed drawing represents a hop-kiln or curing-chamber with an openfurnace and appendages of my invention.

The kiln or curing-chamber -does-not materially differ from those nowmade use of.

The open furnace A, which may be of any preferred construction, isplaced in the center of the chamber, underneath the lattice-work onwhich the hops are spread for curing.

Several pipes, B, lead from the outside of the curingchamber to thefurnace, entering its ash-pit near the center, so that their inner endsmay be exposed to the downward rays of heat from the fire, to causeinflux of air for the support of a'bright combustion in the furnace. Theouter ends of these airpipes are flaring or bell-mouthed to facilitatethe entrance of air. The pipes are also provided with dampers I) toregulate the supply 0 air. 7

A cone-shaped deflector, G, is suspended over the open top of thefurnace, being sufficiently large in diameter to prevent particles ofhops that may fall from overhead from falling into the fire or onto thehot furnace, where they would otherwise be burned, and cause an objectionable odor to attach to the hops.

lated, in some measure, by adjusting the deflector vertically. Thedeflector also serves to diffuse the-heat and will be observed thatapproximately all the heat generated in the furnace is utilized in thedrying of the hops.

The manipulation of the hops is the ordinary one. The furnace havingbeen charged with anthracite coal and a bright fire started,

the hops are spread on the lattice-worl; overhead, and subjected to theheat and gases arising from the open coal fire.

The carbonic-acid gas given out abundantly V p by the combustion of thecoal will effectually cure good qualities of hops. In curing inferiorhops some little sulphur should be burned off in the ordinary manner inthe curing-chamber to give the desired color to the hops.

Near the floor holes D are made in the walls of the kiln, as usual,toadmit the required amount of fresh air. The draft-pipes B may passthrough these air-holes, sufficient space being left around the pipesfor the ingress of air around them.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

1. As an improvement in the art of curing The draft of the open furnacemay also be regu-* gases more evenly. It I hops, subjecting them to theheat and gases In testimony whereof I have signed my from an openanthracite-coal fire, substanname to the foregoing specification in thetially as specified. presence of two subscribing witnesses.

2. The combination, substantially as speci- WM. W. EDGARTON. fied, ofthe open furnace and the vertically- Witnesses: adjustable combineddamper and deflector G. B. MARTIN, suspended over it. SETH HOWARD.

